Article Written By: Nicholas Djordjevic
When he’s not dabbling in doubles with Will Ferrell and Kevin Spacey, Novak Djokovic is busy setting himself up for a legacy that we witness only once every other generation. After defeating Romanian, Victor Hanescu 7-6(1) 6-2 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open, Novak Djokovic became only the 6th active player to reach 550 match wins. Trailing behind Roger Federer (938), Rafael Nadal (674), Lleyton Hewitt (599), David Ferrer (565) and Tommy Haas (554).
Overcoming a tight first set, Djokovic was unable to clinch a single break point opportunity in the first but the Serb capitalized on his first chance early in the second set for a 2-0 lead and broke Hanescu once more to decisively close the match.
Pushing for a third crown, the two-time champion of Indian Wells will now face Alejandro Gonzalez of Colombia who will also be making his ATP World Tour Masters 1000 debut this week.
On the other side of the Tennis Gardens, Roberto Bautista Agut recorded the third Top 10 win of his career by defeating fourth seed Tomas Berdych 4-6 6-2 6-4. It was the first loss in an opening match of an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event for the Czech since German, Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Berdych in the first round of Montreal in 2009.
“I played unbelievable,” said Bautista Agut. “I was not serving very well, I had to play my best tennis from the baseline to win the match.”
Bautista Agut, who’s most recent major win before Indian Wells was the defeat of Juan Martin del Potro in the second round of the Australian Open two months ago, now sits at an impressive 3-6 career record against the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP rankings. The Colombian is now set to face Jarrko Nieminen.
Elsewhere, Defending champion Rafael Nadal fought above and beyond what was expected to defeat Radek Stepanek 2-6 6-4 7-5, Julien Benneteau held off fellow Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4 6-4 and Teymuraz Gabashvilis retirement early in the second set sent Richard Gasquet comfortably into the next round.
